A jury in September found Hall guilty of first-degree murder, which carried a maximum life term, and robbery in the April 10, 1991, carjacking that ended with Lukas sustaining a fatal head injury.

A man laid in wait for Lukas inside her sport-utility vehicle during broad daylight outside a Joliet grocery store where Lukas was making a quick run for bleach, according to trial testimony.

After a struggle, he drove the vehicle with Lukas inside.

A few blocks away, Lukas, 32, a nurse on the kidney dialysis unit at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, either jumped or was pushed from the vehicle. She died the next day.

Though Hall was an early suspect, he wasn't charged until late 2002, when advances in DNA technology led to the identification of Hall's genetic profile on a cigarette butt found in the vehicle after it was recovered.

A convicted felon and onetime associate of Hall testified he helped Hall remove the stolen vehicle's tires, which were sold for $100. Hall's former girlfriend testified Hall told her in the middle of the night that he "hurt a white lady."

"I respectfully say my condolences for the Lukas family," Hall said during sentencing. He said he "could not cause harm to anyone. ... I feel from my heart that I was basically set up here."

Schoenstedt said Hall "has exhibited absolutely no remorse or regret for his conduct in committing this crime."

Assistant State's Atty. Neil Adams said Hall's life of crime began in 1988 with an attempted burglary, progressed to residential burglary the next year and then robberies of women, not including Lukas, in 1991 and 2000.

"He has a pattern of doing this over and over again," Adams said, requesting a life sentence. "It is incumbent upon us to protect the people of the state of Illinois from Larry Hall."